Why you should listen: Hip-hop, country and all manners of electronic music make an appearance on radio stations curated by the likes of Flying Lotus, Gilles Peterson, Pam Grier and Twin Shadow.

It might not be for you if … You’re not quite sure what to do with a box set of driving music that you can’t play on vinyl in your car.

What we said: “The 59-song box set spans boom-bap rap, swells of ambient electro, languid reggae and raucous punk and surfer rock – all meant to conjure up imagery of a semi-fictional California city in decay,” ran our review, in the Guardian.

Score: 4/5

We’ve combined both volumes one and two of the soundtrack below. Click here for a third playlist, made up of the 17 other tracks in the box set.

Why you should listen: New Yorkers Louie Vega and Diego Gonzalez put together a collection of 40 original tracks and remixes, spanning over two decades of their time spent redefining east coast house music.

It might not be for you if … You’re not always convinced that house music remixes enhance original recordings, to be honest.

What we said: “Most of the tracks here are remixes, which allows for some interesting and unlikely combinations, with the gaelic raps of Afro Celt Sound System, for example, or the refined London pop of Saint Etienne,” wrote Paul MacInnes, in the Guardian.

Score: 5/5

Listen to an album sampler mix below, and head here to hear track snippets or buy the album on iTunes.

Why you should listen: To uncover almost all dimensions to glam rock’s Marc Bolan as T-Rex, you could certainly do worse than this exhaustive eight-album collection.

It might not be for you if … You’re camp Bowie when it comes to glam, and no amount of gorgeous-looking coloured vinyl is going to sway you.

What we said: “Audiences had screamed at plenty of pop stars before, but Bolan was the first pop star to make it abundantly clear that he knew exactly why they were screaming,” wrote Alexis Petridis, in his lead review for the Guardian.

Score: 4/5

Listen to 1976’s Futuristic Dragon, one of eight albums in the box set, below. Click here for information on where to buy the set.

Why you should listen: Take a trip back in time to the early days of Uncle Tupelo, the alt-country trio who came before Jeff Tweedy branched off into dad-rock band Wilco and Jay Farrar into Son Volt.

It might not be for you if … You feel country music just doesn’t need this kind of treatment.

What we said: “Amid ballads such as Whiskey Bottle, there’s Graveyard Shift, which shifts between Pixiesesque loud and quiet parts; here it’s only Tweedy’s Illinois twang that marks them out from their grunge peers,” wrote Lanre Bakare, in the Guardian.

Score: 3/5

Will you be splashing out on a box set this year, or have you done so already? Let us know if you find them worth the investment, in the comments.